Digitizing Your Magazine

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Permalink Reply by Michael Tucker on March 31, 2009 at 11:38am

I recently tweeted a blog post about this. "The digital edition of a magazine should be a website. Concentrate on getting that right. No more flippy page gimmicks." http://bit.ly/8CqZy

Sorry for the brevity, but twitter demands 140 characters or less.

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Permalink Reply by Marcus on April 2, 2009 at 2:13pm

Hi Daniel,

We work w/ lots of publishers to create digital magazines and have a version that runs on the Kindle.

The two companies you mention are at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a full-service company that tries to sell your content on their newsstand. The other is a self-service product with no ecommerce capabilities.

Start by asking if you want/need full-service or self-service and if you want to give away content, charge for it, or something in between. That helps narrow the field considerably.

While I disagree w/ Michael's conclusion, there's actually a lot of good information in the article he linked, too, though there's a fair amount of disinformation, too.

Just as early print publishers feared the Web, there are many Web content people that now seem to fear digital editions. The reality is that all have their place and none is a perfect replacement for the other, imo. Different tools for different jobs.

Marcus Grimm
Marketing Director
Nxtbook Media

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Permalink Reply by denise marie on August 10, 2009 at 9:58am

I publish an online magazine, and wouldn't have it any other way, called A Distinctive Style.com and a website A DistinctiveWorld.net. We cover eco-awareness, products, eco-fashion, artisans from around the world, and inspirational stories. Here's my problem with my "flippy page gimmick:" After publishing 7 issues so far, we still find it difficult to get advertisers to understand the value of online advertising. I come with a print background, where advertisers want to know your distribution. You can tell them how many magazines, get printed and they're okay with that, even though it doesn't reveal, for the most part, how many people actually see the publication. With online media, you can show them exactly how many people have looked at their ad, where they came from along with your own numbers and they still don't see the value. Any ideas?
Frustrated!
denise marie

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Permalink Reply by Jim Pappadeas on November 20, 2009 at 9:48am

Michael is correct and incorrect. In order of importance, think print, website, "flippy page", and mobile.

"Flippy page" is not meant for mobile, so all of your collateral must be platform specific. My clients have done very well with "flippy page", but only when using a full featured provider.

There are basically four providers that matter: Zmags, Texterity, Zinio, and Nxtbook. Everyone else is a me too company with inferior products.

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Permalink Reply by Pierre Bisaillon on November 20, 2009 at 11:20pm

A "me too" company with inferior products. A bit surprised to hear you say that Jim.

Pierre

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